Rushanara Ali MP HOUSE OF COMMONS LONDON SWIA 0AA Rt. Hon Boris Johnson MP, Foreign Secretary, Foreign Commonwealth Office, Kings Charles Street, London, SWA 2AH 21* February 2018, Dear Foreign Secretary, We are writing to you regarding the ongoing Rohingya crisis and the urgent need for the British Government to publicly and unequivocally state its support for a United Nations Security Council referral of Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. ‘The United Nations has now documented more than 688,000 Rohingya refugees fleeing to Bangladesh since the Myanmar military began their offensive against Rohingya civilians in August 2017. The government of Bangladesh has stated that it has registered more than a million new Rohingya refugees in the same timeframe. Thousands more continue to flee Myanmar every week, with continuing reports of Rohingya property being destroyed, threats of violence, and increased repression forcing people from their homes. Médecins Sans Frontiéres have recently documented almost 7,000 Rohingya civilians killed in just one month last year, including 730 children. They predict that this figure however i likely to be significantly higher than their initial estimates. Thousands of Rohingya women have also been raped by the military, security forces and by mobs and militias supported by the military. ‘The government of Myanmar and the Myanmar military both continue to deny that large- scale human rights violations have taken place, despite the overwhelming and growing amount of evidence available. In addition, not one of the repressive laws and government policies that target the Rohingya in Myanmar have been revised or repealed. Plans agreed between the Myanmar and Bangladesh governments on 23 November 2017 to repatriate Rohingya refugees are deeply problematic as well as premature. Significant fears that Rohingya refugees would be returned to what are in effect giant prison camps, where the refuugees will have no rights and no freedom of movement have thankfully delayed this repatriation process. The civilian-government of Myanmar can in no way guarantee the safety of any repatriated Rohingya refugees as it has no control over the military Labour Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow ‘Tek: 020 7219 7200 Fax: 020.7219 $493 E-mail: rushanara@rushanaraali org ‘winter: @rushanaraali wow sushanaraali org.20f5 Furthermore, the civilian-government of Myanmar itself is part of the problem. Almost two years after taking power, despite establishing numerous committees, they have taken no ‘actual practical steps to improve the civic rights and humanitarian situation of the Rohingya in Myanmar. ‘We welcome the diplomatic leadership the United Kingdom has shown so far in response to this crisis by securing a statement from the UN Security Council, and building international consensus on steps needed to be undertaken by the government of Myanmar. We also ‘welcome the £59 million in UK aid that has been donated so far. However, the demands of the UN Security Council have largely been ignored. Now it is time to go further. ‘When the EU Foreign Affairs Council mects on 26 February, it will be almost six months since this crisis began. The Myanmar military and General Min Aung Hlaing have paid no ‘meaningful price for their ‘security operations’ first described by the UN’s High ‘Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra‘ad Al Hussein as “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” but more recently as a military campaign in which “you cannot rule out the possibility that acts of genocide have been committed.” General Min Aung Hlaing’s sense of impunity appears to be emboldening him. He is, aggressively escalating existing conflicts against other ethnic groups in the country, threatening the peace process. For the first time in several years he is increasing the use of fighter jets in these conflicts, which are killing and injuring civilians. Military era appointees in goverment ministries are more aggressively obstructing reforms proposed by the democratically elected part of the government. Itis time for the British government to unequivocally state that the situation in Myanmar should be referred to the International Criminal Court. Although at present such a step would likely be opposed within the UN Security Council by Russia and China, we must work to build an intemational consensus to convince these countries to change their positions. This process should start with the British government ensuring that the European Union announces ‘support for a referral to the International Criminal Court in its conclusions on 26" February. ‘The more countries can be persuaded to support a referral, the more the sense of impunity with which General Min Aung Hlaing and his military operates will be reduced. This in turn ‘may help prevent further military offensives against civilians of the kind which has just taken place. ‘The British government should also work to secure agreement that the European Union bans the supply of all equipment to the Myanmar military, not just arms, and ends all military training and co-operation programmes. Further, the time is long overdue for the imposition ofa UN-mandated global arms embargo against Myanmar. The European Union should call on countries around the world to join them in imposing unilateral arms embargoes, until such time, as agreement can be reached for a UN-mandated embargo. Finally, targeted economic sanctions against military owned and controlled companies and senior military personne! should now also be implemented. This is something that should be included in the Foreign Affairs Council Conclusions on 26th February.We hope that the British government will work to ensure that the European Union will do all in its power when it announces what steps it will take on February 26". ‘We look forward to hearing from you, Best wishes, Rushanara Ali MP, Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy in Burma and Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Rohingya ‘Anne Main MP, Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Rohingya and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Bangladesh ‘Ann Clwyd MP, Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Group on Human Rights Group (PHRG) Baroness Glenys Kinnock, former Chair of APPG on Democracy in Burma Afzal Khan MP Lord Alan Smith ‘Alex Cunningham MP ‘Alex Sobel MP Alison MeGovern MP Lord Andrew Stunell ‘Andy Slaughter MP Angela Smith MP ‘Ann Coffey MP ‘Anna MeMorrin MP ‘Anna Turley MP Barry Sheerman MP Carol Monaghan MP Baroness Caroline Anne Cox Caroline Lucas MP Catherine MeKinnell MP Catherine West MP Chris Law MP ‘Chuka Umunna MP Clive Efford MP Clive Lewis MP Chris Leslie MP Daniel Zeichner MP Lord David Alton David Drew MP David Hanson MP David Lammy MP Diana Johnson MP Emma Lewell-Buck MP Faisal Rashid MP Gareth Thomas MP Lord George Foulkes Baroness Glenys Thornton Graham Jones MPHeidi Alexander MP Tan Murray MP Imran Hussain MP Jim Fitzpatrick MP James Frith MP Jeff Smith MP Baroness Jenny Tonge Jess Phillips MP Jim Shannon MP Jo Stevens MP John Cryer MP John Grogan MP John Spellar MP John Woodcock MP Karen Buck MP Karl Turner MP Kate Green MP Kate Hollem MP Kelvin Hopkins MP Kerry McCarthy MP Khalid Mahmood MP ‘Laura Smith MP Baroness Lindsay Northover, Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy in Burma Baroness Susan Nye Lisa Cameron MP Liz Kendall MP Baroness Lorely Jane Burt Luciana Berger MP Lucy Powell MP Lyn Brown MP Margaret Hodge MP Marie Rimmer MP Mary Creagh MP Mary Glindon MP Baroness Mary Goudie, Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy in Burma Matt Rodda MP Lord Michael Cashman Mike Gapes MP Naz Shah MP ‘Nic Dakin MP Paul Farrelly MP Paul Flynn MP Rachel Reeves MP Rosena Allin-Khan MP Rupa Hug MPRuth Cadbury MP Sarah Champion MP Shabana Mahmood MP Siobhain McDonagh MP Sir Peter Bottomley MP Stella Creasy MP Stephen Doughty MP Stephen Gethins MP Stephen Kinnock MP Stephen Timms MP ‘Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi MP Baroness Tessa Blackstone ‘Teresa Pearce MP Tim Farron MP ‘Toby Perkins MP ‘Tom Brake MP Virendra Sharma MP Wes Streeting MP ‘Yasmin Qureshi MP